The major objective of these studies is to delineate the importance of immune responses within the central nervous system of mouse strains which vary in their resistance to neurotropic rabies virus. The development, characterization and role of cytotoxic and neutralizing antibodies and cytotoxic T cells will be monitored in the cerebrospinal fluid. In conjunction with these immunologic studies, the role of host-cell viral receptors, cell tropisms and maturation of virus within dissociated spinal cord cultures containing differentiated neurons will be assessed.